Azan Awais becomes 14th Pakistan batter to score century on Test debut

Pakistan opener Azan Awais announced himself on the Test stage with a century on debut on Sunday in the opening match of the away series against Bangladesh at the Sher-e-Bangla National Cricket Stadium.

Resuming the third day on 85 not out, the left-hander brought up the landmark in the 51st over of Pakistan’s innings by taking a single off Nahid Rana.

As a result, the 21-year-old became only the 14th Pakistani batter to score a century on Test debut, joining the likes of Javed Miandad, Younis Khan and Fawad Alam.

Khalid Ibadulla was the first to achieve the elusive list in the longest format, while Yasir Hameed holds the distinction of smashing a century in each innings of his debut Test.

Notably, Azan is only the third Pakistani batter to score a century on Test debut in away conditions, joining Umar Akmal and Alam, who brought up their respective first tons in Dunedin and Colombo in 2009.

List of Pakistan batters to score century on Test debut:

• Khalid Ibadulla – 166 against Australia in 1964
• Javed Miandad – 163 against New Zealand in 1976
• Saleem Malik – 100* against Sri Lanka in 1982
• Mohammad Wasim – 109* against New Zealand in 1996
• Ali Naqvi – 115 against South Africa in 1997
• Azhar Mahmood – 128* against South Africa in 1997
• Younis Khan – 107 against Sri Lanka in 2000
• Taufeeq Umar – 104 against Bangladesh in 2001
• Yasir Hameed – 170, 105 against Bangladesh in 2003
• Fawad Alam – 168 against Sri Lanka in 2009
• Umar Akmal – 129 against New Zealand in 2009
• Abid Ali – 109* against Sri Lanka in 2019
• Kamran Ghulam – 114 against England in 2024
• Azan Awais – 103 against Bangladesh in 2026

The left-handed batter, however, fell victim to experienced Bangladesh pacer Taskin Ahmed 22 deliveries after notching up the triple figures and walked back after scoring 103 off 165 deliveries, studded with 14 fours.